Redbridge: Artists defend Palestine mural amid controversy

Three artists from Creative Debuts painted the mural in Ilford, east London, in March.

It depicts four reporters and photographers standing before a pile of rubble in Gaza, based on a photograph taken by photographer Suhail Nassar.

An Israeli legal support group has argued it could worsen tensions in London's multi-ethnic communities.

The mural has the words "Heroes of Palestine" written above the journalists' heads and, further down the road, the words "all eyes on Gaza" have also been painted over a Palestinian flag. 

Alia Shaikh, who owns and lives in the home the mural was painted on, said she personally commissioned the piece after feeling "powerless" about the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

She said: "I think it's important for young children to have good role models.

"They're heroes. Without them, we'd have no idea what's happening."

Why are Israel and Hamas fighting in Gaza?

She said Redbridge Council had visited her but she was resolute the mural would stay, adding she had been widely supported by the community, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She explained: "We've not broken any laws. We shouldn't be bullied into doing something and stand up for what we believe."

A group called UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLI) says that Redbridge is one of a number of councils including Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Worcester and Lambeth with murals, signs or artwork that "promotes divisiveness", and asked Redbridge Council to wash it off.

In a statement, the group's director, Caroline Turner, said: "Councils are legally required to have regard to the need to foster good relations between different religious and ethnic communities.

"The murals do not foster good relations between different communities and have proved divisive in the locations where they have been painted. Many have already been defaced."

Similar murals in Shoreditch and Hackney, depicting journalists and medics, have been sprayed over with Stars of David and messages condemning Hamas, the group that governs Gaza.

Ms Turner added: "Councils have powers to remove these murals and should do so as a priority where the murals promote one side of the current war, in view of their impact on community cohesion."

Creative Debuts has made various other murals in support of Gaza across London and in other cities, as well as for other campaigns.

Founder Calum Hall said the Ilford mural commemorated journalists showing "incredible resilience and bravery" in the face of "unspeakable horror". 

He said the group was "not trying to antagonise" anyone, adding: "It's a pretty neutral and uncontroversial way of showing solidarity and raising awareness. It's unfathomable to take issue with a painting of a doctor or a journalist."

"The enemy is not a doctor, it is not a journalist - they are human beings in impossible situations, trying to survive and help people. 

"It would be totally different if we were painting Hamas battalions on the side of a wall."

UK Lawyers for Israel argues the Ilford mural's placement contravenes section 224 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which prohibits unregulated adverts.

Ms Turner added the mural was "in effect an advertisement, advertising the Palestinian cause" and that it breached the planning act "since it had been displayed without the consent of the local authority".

Mr Hall said this was "nonsense," arguing: "It's an artwork; it's quite obviously not an advert."

He added there would be a "chilling effect on street art and visual campaigning" if Redbridge Council upheld the charge that the mural constituted an advert.

A spokesperson for Redbridge Council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it was reviewing the situation but declined to comment further. 

-bbc